House & Leisure magazine: A new look for the Here and Now

In today’s fast-moving age of digitalisation and innovation, media brands around the world have been moving with the times and taking steps to set themselves apart from the pack. House and Leisure is one such brand. Having always prided itself on reflecting the current zeitgeist in the realms of decor, art, design and lifestyle across multiple channels – including YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest online and print – House and Leisure has relooked its brand aesthetic to bring its audience the Here and Now in a renewed and refreshed format.

‘In line with our desire to constantly swim upstream and at the same time continue creating spotlight for our brands, the new-look House and Leisure provides us with a beautifully crafted solution to a problem all publishers are facing: how to create a point of difference in the sea of sameness that is the news stand in SA. I believe the new design and concept behind it does that job brilliantly,’ says Julia Raphaely, CEO of Associated Media Publishing.

Since House and Leisure is all about collaboration, the brand teamed up with Andrew Whitehouse and Mark van Rooyen of multidisciplinary design agency Mutant. The aim was to rework House and Leisure’s identity to reflect its evolution. ‘The lens through which House and Leisure sees the world is always insightful, beautiful and relevant. Our design challenge was to help the brand’s image properly represent that truth,’ says Mutant.

Mutant is renowned for its innovation in the sphere of brand strategy, and after consulting with its talented team, it was clear that the inspiration for House and Leisure’s new direction lay in the ‘O’ in the brand’s name. What essentially is a circle has been reimagined as a lens that speaks to House and Leisure’s process of editing and curating outstanding content for its audience. This concept has been translated into a branding tool that can be seen across all of the House and Leisure media channels – starting with the shoppable, bimonthly print magazine, beginning with its May/June 2019 issue.The new tagline, Here/Now, reflects House and Leisure’s firm grasp of local and global decor-design, culture and lifestyle trends, reinforcing the fact that this directional brand is the authority for all forward-thinking South Africans who value creativity and innovation.

‘House and Leisure is a dynamic decor and design brand,’ says House and Leisure editor Tiaan Nagel. ‘The new look and feel reflects that perfectly, but most importantly, immediately shows a brand beyond just a printed magazine.’

Be part of House and Leisure’s evolution by subscribing to the magazine in print or Zinio format.

Visit houseandleisure.co.za for more, and follow the brand on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest.

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